Palpable sighs of relief in many quarters as British consumer price rises slow. Still way above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target, but CPI at 2.7 per cent in the year to February is better than the 3.1 per cent it peaked at over Christmas; core consumer prices are rising at 2.4 per cent and producer prices were down in February. The ONS claims the effect is mainly due to ‘the previous depreciation of the pound has started to work through the system’. The ONS also noted that house price rises in the year to February were running at 4.9 per cent, versus 5.2 per cent in January.
In a report on trends, risks and vulnerabilities the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) noted that risk in equities ‘remains high’; borrower default risk ‘has eased but remains high due to possible and sudden repricing in risk premia’; that the likelihood of increased market volatility in stocks was a ‘prevailing concern’; that operational risk was elevated and had a ‘deteriorating outlook’; and that ‘speculative’ investments like virtual currencies were ‘vulnerable to the risk of fraud or money laundering’.
DAX 30
Still very much in a large holding pattern above key support just under 11800 – and it’s not oversold.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 12425; stop above 12525. Target 12000.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
FTSE 100
Yesterday’s tiny doji has done nothing to ease bearish pressure in the current chart pattern.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 7055; stop above 7300. Target 6800.
POSITION TAKER: Short at 7250; stop above 7300. Will add on a weekly close below 7100. Target the 6675 area.
S&P 500
Frozen in the headlights as we wait for today’s FOMC meeting Chaired for the first time by Jay Powell.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 2760; stop above 2880. Target 2620.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
BRITISH POUND/US DOLLAR
Holding quite comfortably above 1.4000 – which is not a key chart level; it’s just a round number.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small long at 1.3835; stop below 1.3880. Target 1.4100.
POSITION TAKER: Small long at 1.3775; stop below 1.3880. Target 1.4250.
EURO/US DOLLAR
Boring is maybe where it’s best to be just now.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small long at 1.2267; stop below 1.2250. Target 1.2500.
POSITION TAKER: Small long at 1.2270; stop below 1.2250. Target 1.2500.
GOLD
Another potential investment going nowhere.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Might consider a small long at today’s close based on the commodity channel index.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
Nicole Elliott is a long-standing Member of the Society of Technical Analysts and has taken over the IC’s trading coverage. She is regularly interviewed and quoted by the financial media, is a conference speaker, and author of several books on charting.
